Gebissen
by suzie2b
Summary: A German general bites off more than he can chew.


**Disclaimer:** _ **The Rat Patrol**_ **is not my property. They come out to play sometimes, then I send them home.**

 **Gebissen**

 **By Suzie2b**

 **Allied High Command wanted a high ranking German officer for interrogation. Captain Boggs sent the Rat Patrol out to raid a new German garrison that General Gerald Richter was reportedly inspecting.**

 **They got in, grabbed General Richter, and got out with no problems. Along the way, they left their usual calling card, blowing up the motor pool and supply depot. Now they were far behind enemy lines with the German general tied up and gagged in the passenger seat of Troy and Hitch's jeep.**

 **The jeeps pulled into a waterhole to spend the night and Troy untied the gag before General Richter got out of the jeep. Immediately the general went into a tirade, which was why he'd been gagged in the first place. What made it more irritating was the general didn't appear to speak English. "Ich Nachfrage getroffen werden zurück in die Garnison und veröffentlicht!"**

 **Troy sighed as Moffitt joined him. "What's he demanding now?"**

 **Moffitt smiled. "He seems to think we should return to the garrison and release him."**

" **Well, that's not gonna to happen. Get him out of there and tie him to one of those trees. And tell him if he keeps his mouth shut he won't be gagged again."**

 **As Moffitt took General Richter by the arm to lead him away, he said, "Wenn Sie sich selbst, wir nicht Gag sie wieder."**

 **With his hands tied behind his back the general tried, unsuccessfully, to pull away from the sergeant and looked indignant as he said, "Wie kannst du es wagen, mich auf diese Weise zu behandeln!"**

 **Moffitt only smiled and called to his driver, "Tully, bring some rope so we can secure the general."**

 **The private grabbed a length of rope from the jeep and followed them toward one of the trees. But just before they got there the general started to struggle again, pulling out of Moffitt's grip and kicked his feet out from under him.**

 **As General Richter started to run, Tully lunged forward and tackled him. The general kicked out of the private's grip, but Tully was fast and strong, and he was soon on top of the German, pinning his shoulders to the ground with his hands. A moment later Moffitt was at Tully's side. "You okay, sarge?"**

 **Moffitt nodded. "Thanks for being so quick."**

 **As Troy and Hitch ran to render assistance, they suddenly heard Tully's yelp of pain and saw Moffitt knock the general out with a kick to the head. Tully rolled to one side, holding his forearm, and sat up.**

 **Troy came to a stop next to Moffitt. "What happened?"**

 **Moffitt looked at the unconscious general and saw blood on his lips. "General Richter bit Tully!"**

 **Hitch knelt down next to Tully. Blood was oozing between Tully's fingers as Hitch carefully moved his friend's hand. "Okay, this isn't good."**

 **Anger flashed across Troy's face when he saw the ugly wound on Tully's arm. "Moffitt, do what you can for Tully. Hitch, let's get the general tied up."**

 **As Troy and Hitch finished tying General Richter to the tree, bound his feet, and gagged him, he regained consciousness. He started to struggle futilely against the ropes and raged against the gag.**

 **Troy looked down at the general and said with a deadly tone, "You're lucky High Command wants you or I'd shoot you right here and now."**

 **General Richter stopped and stared up at the sergeant. It was as if he'd understood what had been said. Troy and Hitch looked at each other suspiciously, but neither said a word.**

 **When they joined Moffitt and Tully next to one of the jeeps, Troy whispered, "Be careful what you say. I have a feeling the general knows more English then he's letting on." He looked at Tully, who was pressing gauze on his wound to stop the bleeding. "How's it going, Tully?"**

 **The private sighed and gritted his teeth. "It's goin', sarge. Looks worse than it feels right now."**

 **Troy nodded. "Hitch, go keep your eyes open. I'll help Moffitt."**

" **Right, sarge." Hitch looked at Tully. "You're gonna be all right."**

 **Tully gave him a slight smile and nodded.**

 **Moffitt reached for the Tully's arm. "All right, let's have a look." He moved Tully's hand and the gauze. The deep, ragged tears in the skin were still seeping blood. Moffitt took the canteen and poured water over the wound.**

 **Tully hissed with pain and watched the red tinged water cascade off his arm into the sand.**

 **Moffitt picked up the bottle of alcohol and removed the cap. "I'm afraid I'm going to need to use quite a lot of this."**

 **Troy moved behind the private for support. "Okay, Tully, just hang on." He wrapped one arm around Tully's chest and held his arm in his other hand just below the elbow. Then he gave Moffitt a nod.**

 **Moffitt let Tully clutch his hand and poured the alcohol over the wound. Tully sucked in air as he gritted his teeth. He dug his heels in and pushed back against Troy, grabbing the sergeant's wrist at his chest as he tried to keep his arm still.**

 **After about half the alcohol in the bottle was gone, Moffitt capped it and set it aside. He then took a packet of sulfa, opened it, and sprinkled the powder evenly over the wound. "All right, let's get this bandaged up."**

 **As Moffitt placed a dressing over the wound, Tully let his head fall back onto Troy's shoulder and closed his eyes. The sergeant asked quietly, "Still with me, Tully?"**

" **Yeah, I'm okay, sarge."**

 **Moffitt wrapped and tied the bandage snuggly. "Let's make him as comfortable as possible." With a blanket to cushion his back, Troy and Moffitt helped Tully move back against the jeep's tire. "Do you think you need morphine?"**

 **Tully looked over at General Richter, who was staring back at them. "I'd rather try aspirin first."**

 **After giving Tully the tablets and a canteen of water, the sergeants left him to rest. They went out to talk to Hitch, who had been standing lookout on a broken rock wall. "How's he doing?"**

 **Moffitt said, "He's doing all right for now. But chances are the wound will be infected by morning."**

 **Troy asked, "Even after the alcohol and sulfa?"**

" **Afraid so. The human mouth carries a lot of bacteria. There's just no way to avoid an infection without antibiotics."**

" **We'll probably have to spend one more night out before we can get back to base. Is there a field hospital closer?"**

 **Moffitt nodded. "I'll check the charts."**

 **Hitch frowned. "Too bad you didn't kick the general harder."**

" **Wouldn't change anything, I'm afraid."**

" **But it would make me feel better."**

 **That night Tully awoke with pain throbbing through his arm. He pulled himself up and started looking for a med kit to get some aspirin.**

 **Troy was on sentry duty and noticed the private moving around. He went to the jeep and asked quietly, "What are you doing up?"**

 **Tully swayed on his feet as he replied, "Lookin' for aspirin."**

 **Troy grabbed his arm. "I'll get it. You sit down before you fall and hurt yourself." Tully sat and Troy quickly found the aspirin. He knelt down and watched the private swallow the tablets with water. Troy felt Tully's forehead with the back of his hand. "You've got a fever."**

 **Tully nodded. "Don't really feel too good."**

" **There's no field hospital close enough to take you to, but we'll get you back to base as quick as we can. Just try to rest."**

 **#################################**

 **In the morning, Troy and Hitch loaded the jeeps while Moffitt checked Tully's arm. It was red and swollen, obviously infected. Moffitt did his best to clean the wound and again applied sulfa powder before wrapping Tully's arm in a clean bandage.**

 **Tully knew the answer before he asked, "How bad is it, doc?"**

 **Moffitt looked at him seriously. "I'm afraid it's infected."**

" **Am I gonna lose my arm?"**

 **Moffitt managed a slight smile. "I'm sure we'll get you to the hospital before it gets that bad. You just rest until we're ready to go." He stood and took a canteen out to General Richter.**

 **After Moffitt removed the gag and held the canteen so the general could drink, Richter mentioned that Tully didn't look good. "Ihre privaten sieht nicht allzu gut."**

 **Moffitt screwed the lid back on the canteen and told the general that Tully was fine. "Er ist fein, allgemein. Nichts, sich ungefähr zu sorgen." He noticed the bruise on the side of Richter's head and asked how he was feeling. "Wie ist Ihr Kopf?"**

 **General Richter admitted to having a headache and Moffitt smiled. "Gut."**

 **They drove through the day, only stopping to check on Tully and take in some water. They did have to take a slight detour around a German convoy. Just before dark they stopped for the night in a wadi.**

 **Troy and Hitch tied the general securely to a barren tree while Moffitt took care of Tully. When Troy and Hitch returned, Moffitt had Tully on the ground with a blanket around his shivering shoulders. He gave Hitch a canteen and two aspirin. "Try to get him to take these and get a little extra water into him." Then he signaled Troy to follow. When they were out of earshot, Moffitt said, "He's burning up with fever and red streaks are starting to trail up his arm. The infection may have gone into his blood."**

 **Troy sighed. "We'll be back at base tomorrow…"**

" **If he has to wait that long for treatment he'll lose his arm … if the infection hasn't killed him first."**

 **Troy looked worriedly at Tully. "What if we hit that convoy we passed? There was a truck with medical markings with it."**

" **That's an idea. If we can get some antibiotics going, Tully will have a better chance."**

 **Troy called Hitch over and said, "I want you and Moffitt to check out that convoy we passed a while back. Hopefully they're carrying something that will help Tully."**

 **Hitch said, "He's in bad shape, isn't he?"**

 **Troy nodded. "You two get going. Shouldn't take more than a few hours to track 'em down and get back here."**

" **Wouldn't it be better to leave Moffitt with Tully? After all, he is a bit better at playing doctor then you or I."**

 **Moffitt smiled. "Troy doesn't speak German. Which is something we need to work on for the future."**

 **Troy grinned. "Not likely. Now get going."**

 **#################################**

 **Hitch and Tully reached the place where the convoy had bedded down for the night. They left the jeep behind a hill that overlooked the camp.**

 **Hitch whispered, "Are we going to get the stuff and leave, or are we leaving a calling card?"**

 **Moffitt replied, "Let's try to get in and out without them noticing. I see three guards. You take the one on the left and I'll take the other two. We'll meet at the medical truck."**

 **They circled around and quickly and quietly knocked the guards unconscious, rolling the bodies under the trucks to get them out of sight. Then met at the medical truck.**

 **Hitch stood watch outside while Moffitt went in with a flashlight. When he came out minutes later, he had a medical bag packed with everything they needed and headed back to the jeep.**

 **As they sped away, several of the men in the camp awoke briefly at the sound of the engine, having no idea what had just happened.**

 **#################################**

 **Troy bathed Tully's face and chest with a water soaked kerchief. When Tully was awake, he wasn't entirely lucid and mumbled about his arm being broken, but mostly he slept restlessly.**

 **At one point Tully had stilled and after checking for a pulse, Troy realized the private had fallen into unconsciousness. With a sigh the sergeant decided it was time to do a circuit around camp.**

 **A minute later Tully stirred and opened his eyes. He looked around and wondered why he was alone. He pushed himself up and spied the canteen next to him. With a little effort Tully managed to get the lid off and take a drink. He shivered as he wiped the sweat off his forehead and looked at his painful arm. He couldn't remember what happened. When he looked around again, Tully saw General Richter in the moonlight looking back at him. In a moment of clarity he knew that the general was the one who had hurt him. He didn't know how or when, but something told him it was the man sitting on the sand and tied to a tree who had done it.**

 **Tully grabbed the side of the jeep and pulled himself to his feet. He leaned back against it until the dizziness passed. Then he lurched forward and slowly staggered out to the tree with the general watching him the whole time.**

 **Tully stopped when he reached the general's feet. He swayed as he looked down at the prisoner. "Mister … why did you hurt me?" General Richter mumbled around the gag. Tully unsheathed his long-bladed knife, stepped closer to the general, and cut away the gag, slicing his cheek slightly in the process. "Tell me."**

 **Richter smiled as he said in English. "If I could have killed you, I would have." He nodded at Tully's bandaged arm. "However, it might be that I have killed you in the long run."**

 **Tully stared at him confusedly. "Why would you want to kill me?"**

 **The general knew just from looking at the private that he was very sick. "Why don't you cut me loose so I can explain it to you?"**

 **Tully dropped to his knees and began to untie the ropes. "I don't understand."**

" **You will understand everything in just a moment, private."**

 **The last of the rope fell away, allowing the general to quickly swing around and knock the weakened man down. Tully managed to roll onto his back as the general grabbed the knife from him. He was poised to plunge it into Tully's chest when a volley of machine gun fire ricocheted off the tree above his head.**

 **Troy said, "Drop the knife, general!" Richter hesitated. "I don't want to kill you, but I will if I have to!"**

 **General Richter didn't take his eyes off the now unconscious private. "You will not kill me, sergeant. Your superiors want me alive."**

" **If I kill you, all we have to do is go get someone else. High Command doesn't care what German officer we bring in as long as it's a high ranking one."**

 **Finally, the general looked at Troy and knew the truth of it. He dropped the knife and got to his feet. That's when Moffitt and Hitch arrived. Upon seeing General Richter was loose and Tully lying motionless, Moffitt scrambled into the back of the jeep and swung the 50 around, while Hitch grabbed a machine gun out of its holster.**

 **Moffitt primed the 50 and asked, "What's happened, Troy?"**

 **Troy growled, "I'll explain later. Hitch, tie up general again."**

 **As Moffitt held the 50 on the general while Hitch tied him to the tree again, Troy hurried over to Tully. He was relieved when he found a pulse. When Hitch had finished with General Richter he helped Troy and Moffitt get Tully back to the jeeps.**

 **They set him down and Troy said, "Did you find what he needs?"**

 **Moffitt nodded. "Everything and then some."**

" **Have any trouble?"**

 **Hitch smiled. "We got in and out without any trouble. Only left three guards to wake up with headaches."**

 **Troy nodded. "Good work. Go get a couple of flashlights so we can get started."**

 **Tully remained unconscious while Moffitt used procaine to numb his arm, then proceeded to open the infected area with a scalpel from a surgical kit he'd procured. He did his best to drain the wound and flushed it with both water and alcohol. Moffitt injected penicillin directly into the wound before he packed it open so it would continue to drain. After applying a clean dressing, he wrapped it snuggly. As he gave Tully a heavy dose of penicillin, he said, "That's all we can do. Let's hope we're not too late."**

 **Early the next morning, before the sun came up, Tully opened his eyes. He was groggy, thirsty, and his arm ached. He pushed himself up and picked up the canteen that was next to him in a shaky hand. After he took a drink, Tully looked around. He saw Troy and Moffitt sleeping nearby. Then he spied General Richter. Tully stared at him, trying to remember what was going on. He had a vague recollection of a fight and looked at his bandaged arm. He frowned as his head cleared just enough to let him remember their mission and being bitten.**

 **Tully got shakily to his feet and leaned against the jeep as his head spun. Then he took several hesitant steps in the general's direction. He couldn't do much more than that in his weakened condition and his knees buckled under him. Tully sat down heavily on the sandy ground. He didn't know how long he was there, just staring at Richter as the man slept tied to the tree, when a hand touched his shoulder.**

 **Hitch knelt down next to his friend. "What's going on?"**

 **Tully said in a quiet voice. "Trying to remember." He looked at Hitch. "He bit me, didn't he?"**

 **Hitch nodded. "Yeah, he did." He could feel the raging fever through his friend's shirt. "You're pretty sick right now." Hitch glowered at General Richter, who was now awake and watching them. "Come on. Let's go back to the jeep so you can rest."**

 **With Hitch's help Tully got to his feet and as he put his arm around him for support, Tully said incoherently, "My arm hurts, dad. I think it's broke."**

" **You're gonna be okay, Tully. I'll give you something for the pain."**

 **#################################**

 **It was three days after getting Tully to the base hospital in Ras Tanura that he woke up. He laid there with his eyes closed until he felt something cool and damp on his face. When he finally opened his eyes he was looking up at a smiling young woman. He thought he should know her, but couldn't focus. She folded the cloth she'd used to wipe his face and pressed it against his forehead as she said quietly, "You're going to be all right, love. Go back to sleep."**

 **The next time Tully started to wake up he could hear a voice. It was a familiar voice and he opened his eyes to see Charley sitting next to him reading aloud from one of her many books. Her voice was soft and sweet in his ears.**

 **Charley stopped reading when she saw that he was awake and smiled. "Good to be able to see those handsome eyes a little more focused."**

 **Tully's voice was hoarse as he smiled a little and said, "Hi."**

 **Charley took a glass of water and helped him take a sip. "Your fever is all but gone and your arm is healing. How do you feel? Any pain?"**

" **Just feel a little groggy … and weak."**

" **Well, you were pretty sick for a few days." Charley wouldn't tell him that he had her scared for a while.**

 **Tully reached out with his bandaged arm, ignoring the throb the move caused. He wished he didn't have an IV in the other arm so he could hold her. Charley took his hand and kissed his knuckles. With a slight tug Tully brought her down for a kiss and he whispered, "I love you."**

 **Charley smiled as she straightened up. "I love you more."**

 **Tully grinned as the pull of sleep had him struggling to keep his eyes open. "Not possible."**

" **Why don't you go back to sleep? The more you rest the quicker you'll heal."**

 **Tully sighed as he let his eyes close. "Read…"**

 **Charley smiled as she picked up the book and began reading where she'd left off, feeling his hand loosen in hers as he slept.**


End file.
